Obama Expands Government Benefits for Gay Couples

Photo Credit: APBy AP.

A year after the Supreme Court struck down a law barring federal recognition of gay marriages, the Obama administration granted an array of new benefits Friday to same-sex couples, including those who live in states where gay marriage is against the law.

The new measures range from Social Security and veterans benefits to work leave for caring for sick spouses. They are part of President Barack Obama’s efforts to expand whatever protections he can offer to gays and lesbians even though more than half of the states don’t recognize gay marriage. That effort has been confounded by laws that say some benefits should be conferred only to couples whose marriages are recognized by the states where they live, rather than the states where they were married.

Aiming to circumvent that issue, the Veterans Affairs Department will start letting gay people who tell the government they are married to a veteran to be buried alongside them in a national cemetery, drawing on the VA’s authority to waive the usual marriage requirement.

In a similar move, the Social Security Administration will start processing some survivor and death benefits for those in same-sex relationships who live in states that don’t recognize gay marriage. Nineteen states plus the District of Columbia currently recognize gay marriage, although court challenges to gay marriage bans are pending in many states.

For Tim Fagen of Fort Collins, Colorado, the implications could be profound. A retired electrical engineer, Fagen receives higher Social Security payments than his 79-year partner, Ken Hoole. The two will celebrate their 47th anniversary in August but until now would have been prevented from accessing each other’s benefits.

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Transgender priest to preach at National Cathedral

By AP.

An openly transgender Episcopal priest is set to preach at Washington National Cathedral.

The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge, the Episcopal chaplain at Boston University, will be a guest preacher on Sunday. He’ll be the first openly transgender priest to preach from Canterbury Pulpit at the cathedral.

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